Kent Blossom faculty series: Mozart and winds (July 25)

Wind players take every opportunity to play Mozart, and when they are musicians at the highest level, it’s easy to come away smiling. That was the case on the Kent Blossom faculty concert on Wednesday, July 25 in Kent State’s Ludwig Recital Hall, where an array of Mozart’s works for winds made for a splendid evening.

Mozart’s five Divertimenti, K. Anh. 229 are originally for a trio of basset horns — rare yet sonorous alto clarinets — so these works have been arranged for various other trios over the years. In this case, the Third in B-flat major was played with refined shadings and clear, flowing precision by an ensemble of TCO assistant principals: oboist Jeffrey Rathbun, clarinetist Daniel McKelway, and bassoonist Barrick Stees. Following the usual five-movement structure with two minuets, this fluffy music has a surprise: the finale’s coda clearly references the vigorous opening Allegro. The straightforwardly classical Adagio was imbued with a lovely, generous feeling, the two Menuetti flowed pleasantly along, and the main body of the Rondo finale was charmingly light-hearted.

Rathbun, McKelway, and Stees were joined by pianist Jerry Wong (faculty at Kent State) and guest hornist Hans Clebsch (Cleveland Orchestra) for a delightful rendition of Mozart’s Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat, K. 452. Opening with a richly grand calmness, the first movement mixed regal lines in the woodwinds with the silly, if effective, second theme’s half-step rocking. The broad Larghetto featured lovely flourishes for each player, while the Rondo showed off the group’s adroit cheerfulness. Wong’s sparkling filigree combined well with Clebsch’s regal playing and the vibrant tones of the woodwinds.

After intermission, McKelway, Stees, and Clebsch returned with three Kent Blossom students — clarinetist Meghan Colbert, bassoonist Ryan Yamashiro, and hornist Nathan Peebles — to play the original sextet version of Mozart’s Serenade in E-flat, K. 375. Most often performed in its later version with added oboes, this sextet lacks the textural brilliance of the octet, but contains all the necessary material for this pleasing music to come across.

The outer four movements balance around a gorgeous central Adagio. The opening Allegro maestoso was grand and sturdy, while the final Allegro was drivingly joyful. Of the two stately dance movements, the first Menuetto was pushed forward in tempo, to gripping effect, while the second included tastefully paced slow-downs. The Adagio, one of most Mozart’s beauties, was on the fast side. This tempo worked wonderfully for the players to spin the repeated-note accompaniments into buoyant soundscapes, but wiped free every cadence — especially the last — of its charm. The three Kent Blossom students held their own with the seasoned professionals in Mozart’s always-demanding music.

About David Kulma

David Kulma is a composer, teacher, performer, and writer on music. His YouTube channel, Music Corner, features album reviews and animated educational videos on music theory. He taught music for more than 5 years at Winthrop University, and has also taught at Kent State and Chicago State Universities. He is the only person who performs from memory the main character Raoul de Noget in Robert Ashley's 3-1/2 hour cult television opera Perfect Lives. His collaborative television-opera pilot with Dorian Wallace and John Sanborn has appeared on screen in New York with Experiments in Opera and was reviewed in the New York Times, where he was described as "rambling and riveting." David is also a freelance oboist who has played with the Charlotte Symphony and Erie Philharmonic, among others.

Re•Views

“I am sitting in a room,” intones the composer Alvin Lucier, announcing the title of the composition he is recording before clarifying: “…different from the one you are sitting in now.” As stay-at-home orders arose in March 2020, music-lovers on social media noted that Lucier’s half century-old audio piece could serve as an unlikely quarantine anthem.

Enter the soprano Stephanie Lamprea, last heard in Cleveland during the 2019 Re:Sound Festival, making some of the lockdown era’s most vivid new music through an approach that inverts everything that defines Lucier’s piece — except, of course, for the isolation.

A new CD by Christa Rakich, who is currently Visiting Professor of Organ at the Oberlin Conservatory, gives a nod in two directions. As its title announces, it’s an homage to her former teacher and colleague, the late Yuko Hayashi, longtime professor at the New England Conservatory and curator of Boston’s Old West Church Organ Series. It’s also the first recording to be made of Richards, Fowkes & Co.’s Opus 16 instrument, built in 2008 for Goodson Chapel of the Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. [Read on…]

On their recent, self-titled debut album, the Cleveland-based duo Patchwork — Noa Even and Stephen Klunk — present five commissioned works that draw on free jazz, metal, progressive rock, and the avant-garde. Released on New Focus Records, the album takes you to a sonic world never dreamed possible from a saxophone and drum set duo. As we have come to expect from Even and Klunk, the five works are an exploration of extended techniques. More importantly, their performances are bewitching — ensemble playing at its best.

Hailed by the New York Times as “The Best Classical Music Ensemble of 2018,” Wet Ink Ensemble has lived up to this acclaim once again with their recent release Glossolalia/Lines on Black. The album takes its name from the two extended works by Wet Ink members Alex Mincek (saxophone) and Sam Pluta (electronics). The remainder of the septet includes Eric Wubbels (piano), Erin Lesser (flutes), Ian Antonio (percussion), Josh Modney (violin), and Kate Soper (voice). [Read on…]

Croatian-born pianist Martina Filjak, now living in Berlin, has released her latest album, Light and Darkness, featuring music by Franz Liszt — plus an epilogue by Arvo Pärt. The disc confirms once again all the special technical and interpretive qualities that won her the gold medal at the Cleveland International Piano Competition in 2009. [Read on…]